ED: Largest bomb tested in Afghanistan

The United States military dropped Thursday the largest “non-nuclear” bomb apparently targeting the hideouts of the Daesh terrorist group in the eastern Nangarhar province, according to both US and Afghan officials. The 10-ton ‘Mother of All Bombs’ was dropped from transport airplane in Achin district.

A spokesman for President Ashraf Ghani has said that the government was aware of the attack, adding that it followed no “human casualties” as the villagers had already fled the area.

The defense ministry has also said that the attack was carried out in the Mohmand Dara village, killing 36 Daesh terrorists including a senior commander.

The airstrike was carried out in the wake of the NATO statement that the organization intended to remove Daesh terrorists in Afghanistan by the end of this year.

The chief executive Abdullah Abdullah has welcomed the attack, saying: “our joint operation is the indicator of our efforts to remove Daesh, terrorism and their safe havens in Afghanistan”.

But questions are rising that is the US really decisive to remove terrorism in Afghanistan or the aerial attack is just to test its sophisticated weapons and show off its military power to its rivals in the region?

The latter question is closer to the US aim. The US and its allies have military presence in our country for almost 16 years under the aim of combating terrorism.

Taliban who were ousted from power in the US-led 2001 invasion, were significantly weakened. But the group became stronger after a couple of years, carrying out deadly attacks against the Afghan security forces and the innocent people.

Daesh appeared in Afghanistan during the presence of the US and NATO troops. If the US really wanted to help Afghans in removing terrorists, it could easily do it as it enjoys the world’s strongest economy and modern arms.

The Achin attack as former president Hamid Karzai said “is not the war on terror”. It is a brutal misuse of Afghanistan as testing ground new and dangerous weapons.

The relationship between the United States and Russia is worsening since the war in Syria. The White House is not happy with China regarding the North Korea issues. Iran who is against the US and West policies on the Syrian war is also located in the region. So, it seems that Afghanistan could be a suitable place to use the sophisticated weapons to warn and threaten the regional powers.

The United States has to stop financial resources of terrorism and close its havens outside Afghanistan if it is serious to save human being from the inhuman phenomenon.